


Melting Popsicles

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [13]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Case Fic, Gen, Hypothermia, Medical Conditions, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 17:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13486668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Tony is chasing a suspect when he finds himself locked in a ship's freezer. Whatever is he to do to when he slips and can't get out?





	Melting Popsicles

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the long wait, guys, Muse has decided to go off on adventures without me leaving me alone more than once essentially with writer's block. But this is finally done! Think of it as the precursor to when McGee gets locked in a coffin (because that's what it is).

DiNozzo had been chasing this subject for a solid three minutes, and it was getting old very quickly. Working through a skeleton crew to find a drug dealer had some perks; there were less people to run into while on the chase through a ship. It also had its downsides, however; there were less people who would be inclined to help stop the suspect from bolting.

When the suspect ran into the kitchen, DiNozzo felt a strain of relief run through his body. There was nowhere for their Lance Corporal to hide there. He rushed into the back of the kitchen, where he heard the footsteps most recently. Slowly, he approached where the freezer was. "Give it up, Lance Corporal, there's nowhere for you to hide!" he called.

The door to the freezer was ajar and DiNozzo felt his gut start to say something wasn't right. His suspect couldn't be that stupid. As he took one more step forward, where he was three feet away from the door, he felt someone grab the back of his coat, shove him into the freezer and close the door with a bang behind him.

DiNozzo whirled around and shoved his body weight against the freezer door, but it wouldn't open. There wasn't even a window to allow him a little bit of light!

Oh, this was not good. This was not good at all, not by a long shot. He could feel himself slipping, which he hadn't done in quite a bit after he and Gibbs had established some clear boundaries for what was home and what was work. But it was cold, and it was dark, and nobody knew where he was. Heck, he didn't even get the chance to tell Gibbs that he had a suspect!

He fumbled at his pocket, praying that Gibbs hadn't destroyed his new phone yet. He pressed the phone on and hit the buttons by memory, mentally chanting _please get it right please tell me I got it right, come on, Gibbs, pick up!_ with increasing desperation.

But the rough "Gibbs," that cut through after the ringing stopped meant that Tony completely dropped.

"I screwed up," he said softly. "I really, really screwed up."

There was movement on the other end of the line, though it was static-y, Tony could definitely make out the door closing. "Tony? What's going on?"

"I'm stuck in the freezer, Papa," Tony said desperately. "Lance Corporal Blaine ran when I questioned him, and now I'm stuck!"

"You're stuck _where_?" Papa asked him. "Tony, you keep cutting out."

"Freezer! I'm in the freezer, Papa!" Tony exclaimed.

"The freezer?" Papa asked. "You're in the freezer?!"

"Yes!" Tony exclaimed. "Find Lance Corporal Blaine! He did it!"

"We gotta get you out, first, Tony!" Papa exclaimed. "Hang on, Blackadder and I will be right over."

Tony made a small "Mhm," and hung up the phone, returning it to his pocket. He was already shivering. It was just _freezing_  in here and he had nothing on but a suit jacket. On top of that, he was tired from running, and wasn't sure if he should get up and move around or stay still to preserve warmth. _Papa would know, Papa always knows_  he thought to himself. But Papa was already on his way over, so there wasn't much he could do.

He sat up against the freezer door, hoping it was warmer than the rest of the place, and rubbed his hands together to try and keep them warm. He wished he could have someone do this for him, but he was alone at this point, and someone had to look after him, so he supposed that person would have to be himself.

Since there was nothing much to do when he was stuck in a freezer, he sang softly to himself. There wasn't a lot of echo, unfortunately, so it wasn't that entertaining outside of providing a distraction to think of the lyrics. The cold was gnawing through his jacket and pants into his arms and legs, and he just about thought he was going to cry, when a loud bang came from the other side of the door. He perked up. Papa?

He knew he had to at least pretend to be big, though, so he pounded on the door, yelling, "Boss! Boss, I'm in here!"

There was frantic rattling of a handle on the other side and...clinking? Oh, that wasn't good. That kind of clink could only mean locked chains.

"Tony, the door is padlocked!" Papa called in through the door. "Hang on tight, we're gonna get you out of there!"

"Hurry!" Tony yelled back, blowing into his hands. If he could see anything, he would have been positive that it would have been his foggy breath slipping through his fingers.

As time wore on, Tony didn't feel any more rested. In fact, the longer he was alone, the more tired he felt. He tried to stay awake, he tried to stay awake so badly, because last time he passed out on the job he had gotten kidnapped. But he couldn't even be sure he was awake, or if his eyes were open when all around him was just pitch black. It was like that time as a kid when his nightlight went out, and he had no way to get out of his room and find his dad to ask for another light bulb, so he sat on his bed in terror until his body had enough and forced him to sleep.

He was convinced he was dreaming by the time there was a loud clunk outside, like chains falling to the ground. There was a sudden brightness and Tony blinked in it, when there were warm hands on his back, easing him to the ground and pulling him away from where he had been sitting. _No! I have to stay where I was if I want Papa to find me,_  he thought desperately, trying to get up.

A shadow came over him and kept him down. "Hey, Tony, no no no, you need to lie still," a familiar voice instructed.

_Papa?_  Tony thought. He tried to verbalize what he was thinking, but couldn't get his mouth to work right, so all that came out was a strangled whimper.

"Hey, shh, it's gonna be all right," Papa murmured, before the shadow moved slightly and barked. "Get me the medic, _now_!"

That voice was loud, but still unmistakably Papa's. The shadow came into clearer focus and Tony could make out Papa's face with some strain. He reached up with one hand to see if Papa was real, only to have his hand put down on the ground. "Tony, I told you, lie still."

"Is he gonna be all right?" another voice asked. That had to be Viv.

"He got kidnapped for almost a month, once, somehow I think he'll manage," Gibbs said. "It won't be easy though. I've gotta take care of the Lance Corporal. Keep an eye on Tony until I get back?"

"Yeah, of course," Viv said.

The shadow left and Tony wanted nothing more than to cry out for it to stay, but he knew better. In his dreams, all adults left, shadow or real.

He could feel himself being gently lifted up onto something soft and warm, and belatedly registered the talking above him and how he was being moved to sick bay. He decided this was a very weird dream, right before he closed his eyes, and resolved to tell Papa about it when he woke up.

* * *

The next thing Tony registered was warmth spreading through his body coming from...was that his arm? He cracked his eyes open to see an IV sticking out from one of his veins, and warmth coming from there. Looking around a little more, he found Viv frantically writing something on her PDA, and he made a croaking noise that was supposed to be her name.

Intelligible or not, she responded to it, and her entire body sagged in evident relief. "Oh, Tones," she breathed. "You're awake!"

"Mhm," he agreed. "Just...slept..."

"Yeah," Viv agreed. "For at least half an hour. Probably closer to a full hour, at this point, because I heard Gibbs barking orders a little earlier, meaning he was finally done with the man who chained up the lock so we couldn't get you out of the freezer."

"Wha...ppened?" Tony rasped out.

"Oh, it was quite a sight," Viv laughed. "As soon as Gibbs realized he couldn't get the chain undone from the freezer, he ordered the whole skeleton crew rounded up and brought to the mess hall. Then, one by one, he searched them for a key to open the lock. When our Lance Corporal was found to be holding it, he was immediately detained, and Gibbs called for the medic to help you. You were pretty out of it."

That sounded a little like what Tony was convinced was a dream. So Papa...really did save him? He owed Papa so, _so_  much.

Papa ran in the room, immediately zeroing in on Tony. "Hey, look who's up," he said, walking over and standing at the end of Tony's bed. "Feeling any better?"

"Little," Tony breathed. "Cold still."

"Yeah, well, you might be staying here a little while longer, at least until they get all that warm saline in your blood. You scared everyone more than a bit when you passed out," Papa said.

Tony offered a lopsided smile and he would have shrugged if he could have. "Aw, come on...cut me...some slack," he teased.

Papa shook his head and rolled his eyes, which Tony recognized as Papa's silent way of saying, _You're ridiculous sometimes. I love you_.

Papa turned to Viv. "Mind taking care of everyone outside for a bit? I want to see how much Tony remembers, but if two people are asking him questions at once, he might get overwhelmed."

Viv nodded and left the room, closing the door on her way out. Papa moved to sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed his thumb over Tony's knuckles. "That was scary, baby boy. Are you okay?" he asked.

Tony did an internal inspection. He didn't have the cold biting at him anymore, and he didn't feel bored. Best of all, he had Papa there to help him now. "Mhm," he said, offering a smile. "Papa's here, so 'm okay," he said.

Papa smiled, and Tony felt a different kind of warmth in his chest. Papa was here, Papa was focused only on him, this was safe. "Hug?" he asked.

He got a light hug and a kiss on the forehead in response, and Tony felt his eyes get heavier again. Papa smiled at him and mussed his hair lightly. "Ah, somebody's still tired. I'll let you rest for a bit, but later we can go to my house, all right? You've done more than enough work today to earn yourself a treat when we get back."

Tony hummed as his eyes closed. He wondered what that treat might be. Maybe some extra cuddle time, or Papa playing checkers even if Tony was feeling too little to play normally. So long as it wasn't ice cream, he was sure he would love whatever Papa was talking about.

As he fell asleep, he wound up in a weird in-between state again. He was aware of Papa getting off the bed and moving to sit where Viv had been, but he couldn't open his eyes to see what Papa was doing. That was okay, though. Tony knew Papa would never do anything bad to hurt him.

After a time, the door to the infirmary opened and Tony's eyes fluttered open, finding something to focus on other than the weird doze he had been in for who-knows how long. His body still felt floaty, but it also felt loads warmer. "It looks like you're doing much better, Agent DiNozzo," the man who Tony assumed was a doctor said. "So long as you don't have any problems within the next half hour, I'll feel okay letting you leave without going to Bethesda."

"Thanks," Tony said. "I'm just glad I'm not frozen."

"You'd have to thank Agent Gibbs for his quick thinking on that one," the doctor laughed. "But yes, it is a very good thing that you're as alert as you are. Be sure to take it easy the rest of the day, though."

"I plan to," Tony said, sparing a glance at Papa.

Papa just smiled and nodded, mouthing, "My place and hot chocolate." His only response to Tony's eyes lighting up at the prospect was a smile and a finger to his lips.


End file.
